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Double reservoirs imaged below Great Sitkin Volcano, Alaska, explain the migration of volcanic seismicity
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  • Xiaotao Yang,
  • Diana C. Roman,
  • Matthew M Haney,
  • Cody Adam Kupres
Xiaotao Yang
Purdue University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Diana C. Roman
Carnegie Institution of Washington
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Matthew M Haney
United States Geological Survey
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Cody Adam Kupres
Purdue University
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Abstract

Volcanic seismicity provides essential insights into the behavior of an active volcano across multiple time scales. However, to understand how magma moves as an eruption evolves, better knowledge of the geometry and physical properties of the magma plumbing system is required. In this study, using full-wave ambient noise tomography, we image the 3-D crustal shear-wave velocity structure below GreatSitkin Volcano in the central Aleutian Arc. The new velocity model reveals two low-velocity anomalies, which correlate with the migration of volcanic seismicity. With a partial melt of up to about 30%, these low-velocity anomalies are characterized as mushy magma reservoirs. We propose a six-stage eruption cycle to explain the migration of seismicity and the alternating eruption of two reservoirs with different recharging histories. The findings in this study have broad implications for the dynamics of magma plumbing systems and the structural control of eruption behaviors.